Vartabeds, an order of celibate priests in the Ar- menian Church (ij. v.), who are attached to the churches as preachers (the married priests do not usually preach), and from among whom the bishops and higher clergy are taken. It is a degree of honor corresponding very nearly to our doctor of divinity, and is given with the same solemnity as holy orders.
Varty, JotiN, an English Congregational minister, was Ijorn in London, Nov. 29, 1798. He was educated at Hoxton Academy, and ordained at Mitcham, Surrey, in 1823. In 1839 he accepted an invitation to the Church at Fareham, and for twenty-three years faith- fully labored with that peoitle. Mr. Varty was a decid- ed and earnest Christian, and a man of strong piety and large Christian influence. He died April 16, 1873. See (Lond.) Cung. Year-book, 187-t, p. 358.
Varuna, in Hindu mythology, is one of the highest and most powerful of the gods, yet one of the most vague and least known of all deities. In the Vedas this divin- ity is often confounded with Indra and Agni. See Le- normant, Chaldtean Magic, p. 131 ; Mliller, Chips from a German Workshop (see Index).
Varus, P. QuiNTiLius, proconsul of Syria for several years (between B.C. 13 and A.D. 7), after'Sentius Satur- ninus, an office which he administered with such rapac- ity that Velleius Paterculus says of him (ii, 117), " As a poor man he entered the rich country, and as a rich man he left the country poor." Some of his governmental acts are rehearsed by Josephus (Life, W; A nt. xvii, 5 sq. ; War, i, 21,5; ii, 3, 1 ; 5, 2). He subsetpjently sustained a notable defeat in Germany. See Smith, Diet, of Class. Biog. s. V. See Oovei{NOr.
Vas (or De Vas), Petrus, a Dutch minister of the Reformed Church, born about 1658. lie is mentioned
as a candidate at Gravelant, Holland, in 1699 ; pastor at Kingston, N. Y., from 1710 to 1756; and often officiated at Rbinebeck, having organized that Church. See Cor- win, Manual of the Reformed Church in America, s. v.
Vasa, GusTAvus. See Glstavus I (Vasa).
Vasari, Giorgio, an Italian author and painter, was born at Arezzo, in Tuscany, in 1512. He studied art, architecture, and painting practically; became the pu- pil and friend of Michael Angelo; and obtained the patronage of such distinguished persons as cardinal Ip- polito de' Medici, pope Clement VH, and the dukes Ales- sandro and Cosmo de' INIedici. He painted numerous works in various parts of Italy, among them several noted pictures in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and in the Sala Regia in the Vatican. As an architect Vasari attained greater excellence than as a painter. He built the church of Abbadia in Arezzo; a great part of the palace of Julius HI at Rome; and the Palazzo Uffizi in Florence, commenced in 1561 and completed, after his death, by Alfonso Parigi. Tliis last is consid- ered by critics to be his best architectural work. Many other buildings and parts of structures are ascribed to him ; and he was chiefly instrumental in re-establish- ing the Florentine Academy of Design. He died in Florence, Jan. 27, 157-1. As a writer on art Vasari at- tained considerable celebrity. He entered upon his work at the suggestion of cardinal Farnese, and subse- quently enlarged the scope and plan of his book. It is entitled Vite </e' piu Eccelenti Pittori, Scultori, e Archi- tetti, and was first published in Florence in two volumes (1550). In 1556 he undertook a new tour to prepare materials for a second edition, which appeared in 1568. Several subsequent editions appeared from time to time, a recent one in Florence, in thirteen volumes (18-16-57). It has been translated into English and published in Bohn's Standard Library, See Spooner, £w^-. Hist, of the Fine A rts, s. v.
Vase. See Basin; Bottle; Bowl; Chalice; Cup; Urn, etc.
Vasey, Thomas (1), was an orphan ward of a wealthy and childless uncle, who disowned him on Va- sey's becoming a Methodist. He began his ministry in 1776; travelled in the Dales in 1782, Liverpool in 1783; and in 1784 he was ordained a presbj-ter of the Church of England by Wesley, and sailed with Dr. Coke to America, where he shared the toils and perils of Fran- cis Asbury. He was here ordained by bishop Wliite, and afterwards returned to England, and, with Wesley's consent, accepted a curacy. In 1789 he resumed the itinerant work, and continued therein until 1811, when he was appointed to perform the liturgical services in the City Roail Chapel. In 1826, with a pension from the trustees, he retired to Leeds, where he died very suddenly, Dec. 27, 1826, in his eighty-first year. See Stevenson, I/ist. of City Road Chapel (Lond. 1872, 8vo), p. 152; City Road Magazine, 1871; Wesl. Meth. Mag. 1827, p. 142; May, 1830 (portrait) ; Stevens, Hist, of Methodism, iii, 467 ; Hist, of Meth. Episc. Church, ii, 155, 166; Smith, //ii-i". of Wesl, Methodism (see Index, vol. iii).
Vasey, Thomas (2), an English Wesleyan minis- ter, was born in 1779. He was converted in 1794; com- menced to preach in 1801 at Barrow and Epwortli; was ordained in 1804; labored, among others, on the Sun- derland, Whitby, Darlington, and Colne (1815) circuits. He died of inflammatory fever. May 5, 1818. Many were converted through his earnest and godl}' ministry. See IFes/.J/e?/;.J/((y. 1820, p. 401,481,